Eirian felt strange as she stepped back and let the soldiers secure the room.
Numb.
Cold in a way she'd never felt before.
All three of them were dead now.
They hadn't managed to save a single one.
In a weird way, it felt like the future of the Camelia was dead, and she had to forcibly remind herself of Brendan and the others. Still so young that there was a chance they'd grow to live full lives untouched by the mistakes of the people raising them.
But Finn, Emmy, and Patrick had already paid that price.
"Lord Ye returned to the upper hallway." Captain Li said quietly, and Eirian turned and left them to it without a word.
Chenzhou was two floors up, alone in a gilded hallway decorated with the Yang's glory.
Trophies, she realized as she joined him.
Chenzhou's eyes were locked on a shield mounted on the wall and draped in red silk.
"They're removing the bodies." She told him, tucking in close and letting his warmth sink into her.
Chenzhou didn't look away from the shield. It didn't even seem like he'd heard her.
"Chenzhou?"
His eyes were still pinned on the shield.
Eirian frowned and studied it. A small plaque identified it as a thousand years old, a relic of the Yang's origin in the Land of Song and Snow. It had distinctive scalloped edges where the hammer had worked the metal thin and strong.
Eirian's eyes narrowed. Something about the shield stuck out, but she couldn't explain what.
Chenzhou finally spoke. "Do you see it?"
"I see something." She muttered.
"It's the same as the masks the assassins wore." Chenzhou's voice was low, broken.
It fell into place at his words. The shield looked like it was made the exact same way as the masks Eirian had taken off their melted faces. Something Yuze had only managed to identify as an ancient metalworking technique that was long out of use.
"How did I miss it for so long? My mother's pendant was metal; it had the same edges." Chenzhou sounded lost, hurt.
Eirian's argument was automatic. "You couldn't have known. Metal workers stopped using that technique a thousand years ago. Your mother and father died before they could tell you anything about the pendant. Did they even know?"
Chenzhou frowned, eyes still downcast. "Possibly not." He'd idealized his parents when he was young; the tragedy of them made it hard not to, but the older he got, the more frustrated he became with the fact that they weren't there to answer his questions.
It wasn't even their fault, but it didn't stop the feeling.
He leaned against Eirian. "I guess this means the Yangs killed them."
"You guess? I'd say it's pretty clear." Eirian hummed thoughtfully. "Really, there's no way of telling how many people died because of the Yang's actions."
They were only just beginning to understand the extent of the Yang's actions; it would be decades before they understood the full cost.
"Let's go see the children," Chenzhou said quietly and gently pulled her away.
***
The court, despite the panic that had carried them into the council room hours earlier than planned, were quiet as Chenzhou and Eirian entered and took their seats.
Both of them were pale with dark circles under their eyes. Yuze didn't look any better when he arrived a moment later.
Kai Low watched all three of them with worried eyes. As much as he didn't like it, the stability of the Camelia had a huge impact on the borderlands, and losing Lord Ye would guarantee that this peace would end in bloodshed. Kai Low's people wouldn't survive that.
And he couldn't let it happen.
Of smaller, secondary concern was that it would destroy Yuze, and Kai Low was coming around to the idea that he didn't want him hurt.
At least, not by anyone else.
Lord Ye nodded to the High Court members to begin, marking the first day of the trial that he hadn't opened with his own words.
Kai Low shifted; his endless search for a comfortable position in the terrible furniture of the stone city was still turning out to be fruitless, as Counsel Margrave stood and walked to the center of the room.
"The High Court wishes a good morning to the Court of the Camelia." She stood still as stone, only her eyes shifting before the high table with Lord Ye and his party and the rest of the court. "No doubt you have all been following the events of the last few days." The High Court had delayed the trial for two days as they'd gathered evidence against Lady Yang and her family.
Chenzhou and Eirian had sequestered themselves away with the children and Marian. The staff of the castle had refused to let anyone bother them as the Camelia descended into a shocked silence. The crowds in teh streets had disappeared. The voices whispering had fallen silent.
"The High Court of Sorrow has accepted Lord Zhao's admission of guilt. Based on the evidence he has provided, we have issued warrants for the arrest of the Yang family and their conspirators." She paused. "I will present the evidence from Lord Zhao, and then the court will be allowed to make a statement. Once those are complete, the High Court will make its recommendation…the trials for the Yang case will begin once Lord Zhao's is complete."
~ tbc